California Gold Rush Research Paper

Superior Essays
During the 17 century, economists wonder what make so many people move to California so quickly that its population has risen from about 10,000 to 100,000 in a short time. This was because of the discovery of gold in California in 1848. The news of gold quickly spreads across the United States and around the world. Its spark has brought thousands of people to leave their family, work and home in order to search for gold. The California Gold Rush affected so many people that some was able to become successful, while the rest was unsuccessful in their life and lives in poverty (Sheafer 5). This has made modern economists wonder with question that if people knew that they’ll end up taking risks to find gold why do they come to the California anyways?
On January 24th, 1848, gold was accidentally discover at Sutter Mill in Coloma, California by James Marshall. Marshall was employed by John A. Sutter to start a construction of a saw mill at Coloma. While he was at the construction site his eyes spotted a gold nugget that will led thousands of people to California. Marshall and Sutter discussed about this discovery and tried to keep it a secret, but unfortunately the news spread rather quickly (Sheafer 9). The population in Coloma then stated to grew in a few months, next thing you know about ten to
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Marshall was unsuccessful during the gold rush, he wasn’t able to secure his claim on the Coloma property and decided to charge other sawmills for the gold they have found, but at the end he was still unable to gain any profit from it. All his men that worked for him has turn against on him in order to search for gold ( Peterson). His mens believe that searching for gold will make them richer rather than working under Marshall. At the end, Marshall end up with nothing and live as a poor man that sign his autograph on a card for 50 cents each

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